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Plants thrive all over the planet, despite the fact that many animals love to snack on them. Various hypotheses account for all those plants. One is that predators kill enough plant-eating animals to give vegetation a chance. Another is that plants develop physical and chemical means to defend themselves.
盡管事實上有許多動物喜歡以植物為食，但地球上的植物仍然欣欣向榮。關于這些植物，有許多假說。一種假說稱，捕食者殺死了大量的植食動物，為植物的生存提供了機會。另一種假說稱，植物使用物理和化學的手段來保護自己。
Now researchers have teased out some of these factors in an East African savanna.
如今，科學家已在東非草原篩選出了真正的影響因素。
The impala—an African antelope—eats grasses and trees and is itself eaten by wild dogs and leopards. Impala often munch on a tree called the acacia. Some acacia have thorns, and some don't.The researchers found that the impala—perhaps not surprisingly—prefer thorn-free acacia. Also, the animals avoid woody areas where predators are more likely to hide.
黑斑羚是生活在非洲的一種羚羊，以草和樹木為食，是野狗和豹口中的獵物。黑斑羚經常津津有味地咀嚼一種叫金合歡的樹。有些金合歡樹長著刺，但有些沒有?？茖W家發現，黑斑羚更喜歡沒有刺的金合歡樹——也許這沒什么令人驚奇的。同時，這種動物不喜歡生存在林木茂盛的地方，因為那里更可能藏著它們的捕食者。
And as a result, the thorn-free, vulnerable acacia are more plentiful in woody areas with plenty of predators. But the thorny acacia are more numerous on the open savanna, where they need to defend themselves. The study is in the journal Science.
結果顯示，沒刺的、易受攻擊的金合歡樹更多地生長在林木茂盛的地方，且那兒聚居著大量捕食者。而有刺的金合歡樹更多地長在開闊的熱帶草原中，在那，它們需要保護自己。該研究發表在《科學》雜志上。
The researchers say their findings show that both plant defenses and carnivorous predators help plants thrive. They also say that when humans influence—in part by eliminating large predators—we disrupt longstanding, complex systems. And that we should really try to better understand such systems, and our effects on them.
科學家稱，他們的研究表明，植物防御和肉食性捕食者對植物的繁茂都有促進作用。他們還說，當人類參與消滅大型食肉動物時，人類擾亂了長期存在的、復雜的系統。人類真應該試著去更好地理解這一系統，以及人類對這一系統的影響。
